Wild monster python eats pet dog as parents fear their children will be next victims

A couple in tropical Australia today feared their children were in danger after a giant, wild, five-metre python swallowed their family dog in front of them.

And just weeks ago other snakes killed their cat and pet guinea pig.

Shocked Daniel Peric said he is now terrified of leaving his two children, aged five and seven, alone in any part of the house, after the "enormous" python ate his silky terrier-cross chihuahua on Monday night.

"Actually watching it unfold before your eyes was pretty gut wrenching," he said. "We'd had the dog about five years, so it was part of the family."

The huge snake had already devoured the pet dog before they realised what had happened: "All we could see was his back legs sticking out. There was nothing we could do to save the dog."

Mr Peric said in the weeks before, the family had found their cat's body, which looked like something had attempted to swallow it and on Sunday a smaller python had eaten their pet guinea pig.

"When it happens once, you think it's a one-off, but last night I thought 'this is serious,'" he said.

"We have ducted air-conditioning. Call it paranoia, but my big fear is that a snake will get in there and come into the house and attack the kids while they're sleeping."

Australian Venom Zoo owner Stuart Douglas took the call from the distressed Peric family on Monday night and arrived at their home in the town of Kuranda near Cairns in far north Queensland to remove the scrub python within 20 minutes.

"They were very upset but they still had the decency to call us to come and get it," Mr Douglas said.

"It was at the bottom of the veranda. They'd thrown chairs at the python to try to stop it, but it had already eaten the animal." Mr Douglas said by the time he arrived, all that could be seen of the dog was its back legs and tail.

"It only took about 30 minutes to eat the dog, but it will be digesting it for two days," he said.

Mr Douglas said pythons were amazing animals that belonged in far north Queensland but people needed to be aware that pets were potential prey.

"These pythons used to feed on wallabies but now they feed on cats and dogs in suburbia," he said. "This python actively stalked their dog."

He said if anyone saw a large snake near their home they should call someone to remove it as soon as possible."

Mr Douglas said he would wait until the python had fully digested its prey before releasing it.